Moynihan eyes 'stunning' performance

British athletes are poised for an "absolutely stunning" Games in London if they can match their feats from Beijing, according to the British Olympic Association chairman.

Lord Moynihan said the 542-strong team was "outstandingly talented and highly motivated" going into the Games, and the best-prepared British team ever.

The aspiration is to match Beijing where the British team surprised the world by taking fourth place in the medals table with 19 golds and 47 in all.

Moynihan said: "The British team are the best-prepared we have ever taken to a Games and are absolutely ready to give it their best.

"We anticipate there will be whole plethora of personal bests and if they do that then the medals will follow.

"We come ready to meet the expectations of the public which we accept will be very high. We have home advantage and it is vitally important to channel that phenomenal public support into focused performance."

Moynihan warned that it will be "incredibly tough" to match the performance of Beijing.

"The margins that are going to differentiate gold from silver from bronze are tiny. What matters to me is that the support structure gives them the chance to deliver their personal best and if they do then gold medals will follow.

"We have outstanding talents in many disciplines and are really motivated and ready to deliver.

"It will be a great success if we can deliver fourth place in the medal table and if we come out of this with the same number of medals or more it will be an absolutely stunning Games."